Saturday, June 8, 2013

GWC 1.0 entry: MG Ez8 Completed Gallery and Review

Here stands the behemoth. the past couple of weeks have been poured into making this guy look as good (I use the term 'good' very loosely here) As you can see (and have been seeing if you've been following my progress) I went with a slightly modified OOB color scheme for this guy. I kept the metallics as they would appear, and blues are in place, but instead of going with the tan color the kit was molded in, I went with a pre-shaded gray/white scheme. I think it suits the look of the kit overall better, and I think it looks more urban as opposed to having that 'desert' look to it.

I was stealing some of Dan's patented 360 degree photo 'swag' (I hope he doesn't mind) and my camera curiously enough, I guess recognised what I was doing, and automatically made a .gif out of it... technology...

anyway, Hit the bump for a small review, and some of my thoughts on this guy :) as well as a ton of photos!

The RX-79[G]Ez8 (or Ez8 for short) is an old, but very solid kit. It's got a great look (even out of box) and stands out among some of your more typical 'lead' gundams. The biggest notable difference being that of the color scheme. not a drop of yellow on this guy outside his shoulder insignia (and even that is optional) and the blue feet and red eyes really are a nice change of pace from what you normally see in a lead. another thing that's pretty obvious is that this guy isn't really a 'gundam'. well, I guess he is, but not in the same sense that the rx-78-2 or the Wing gundam, or the Strike, or any of the other countless leads are. He's very much a grunt suit, Just an upgraded and modified RX-79[G].

Although this is an older kit, it makes up for all of it's shortcomings in little ways and is still a knockout kit to this day, if you can get over a couple of minor articulation limitations. Again, being an older kit, some of the technology that went into this mold wasn't the best. so there's a lot this guy can't do, that some of our newer kits can. this guy is just begging for an update.

the arms go out straight out, there's no real shoulder joint here, so you'll get a little over a 90 degree bend out of this, being on a hinge and a ball joint. the arm rotates a full 360 below the shoulder with no problems whatsoever.

But you'll get a full range of motion on the front-to-back, even with the backpack on, the arms aren't too restricted when moving forward and back. and the almost 180 bend at the elbow is a great thing to see in older kits.

Legs go forward about 90 and the kit can stand on it's own on one leg.

but being on ball joints, they can only go out to the side about 40-45 degrees.

you're going to get almost no back movement on the legs, and only about 90 degrees on the knee.

Now what I was talking about with small things making this kit stand out, and still relevant when compared to some newer kits. a lot of that is in the gimmicks in the kit.

Probably my favorite gimmick, and one of the more notable ones included is the opening chest armor plate. behind this you can see a lot of really nice detail tucked away. and even though it's tucked back behind that big armor plate, you don't have to actually remove it to display it and show off all your hard work.

another shot of the opened torso hatch, as well as the opened cockpit, and a little shiro poking his head out.

ammo packs on the side-skirts can be removed and changed with the one in the machine gun.

and the hatches on the sides of the legs can open to reveal a hidden beam saber, and there's one on each leg.

and these knee guards have a little bit of articulation, which I believe is to add stability when posing the ez8 in a ground/kneeling pose.

another awesome thing about this kit (espescially considering the retail price) is you get a lot of accessories with this guy.

Like I said, you get a mini armory with this guy.

The first and probably most recognizable accessory that comes with the ez8, is the iconic ground shield.

the attachment point on the backside of the shield has two joints and can extend while on the arm.

next is the machine gun

the stock of the gun can move for added stability.

and the ammo pack can be removed and swapped with the ones on the side-skirts.

and the beam rifle (my least favorite of the weapons included) comes molded in one solid gray. so you'll have to paint if you want it to look like it does on the box.

and the handle on the front moves from side-to-side so you can wield it with two hands.

the final weapon in the lineup is the bazooka, which can be disassembled and put in the backpack

speaking of the backpack, it opens and is quite nice.

and with the doors closed up.

I guess this would count as a gimmick. but the backpack can unfold and hold the larger pack, with the bazooka inside.

and again, through the wonders of technology. I somehow have a pre-made gif for me.

the last of the included bits for this kit are the extra fix-pose manipulators included. and the beam sabers.

So if you've stuck around this long, I have a couple of action shots for you to take a peek at :) thank you guys for checking my WIP's.